Our first Blackburn Junior Hawks skills test session saw assistance from guest coaches Nicole Jackson and Sarah Hutchinson. Both Nicole and Sarah are part of the Great Britain Women’s team who both secured a bronze medal at the recent world championships in South Korea in April 2017, following the pre-Olympic qualifiers in Kazakhstan in November 2016.

Nicole is an experienced goalkeeper with well over 12 years playing at a high level, icing for England and GB on numerous occasions. She will be playing overseas in Sweden next year for Goteborg Hockey Club. Sarah has been involved in the game for over 15 years also icing for England and GB throughout this time and is no stranger to senior hockey. Last year Sarah iced for the Altrincham Aces (men’s team) in Laidler conference D2 alongside her international duties.

Both Nicole and Sarah have completed these skills tests in their training camps for England and GB, so it was ideal opportunity to have this level of coaching down at Blackburn to assist. These 2 guest coaches will hopefully be the first of many more to assist with the Blackburn Junior Hawks.

Mini-League Blackburn is a small area cross-ice games league designed to help hockey players of all abilities enjoy our wonderful sport, develop greater hockey sense through game play and make new friends through hockey.

Mini-League Blackburn runs on Thursday nights at Blackburn Arena between 7pm and 8:30pm, for children in the U9s to U15s age groups. The cost of the session has been reduced, and is now £7.50. Assistant Director of Hockey, Mike Fletcher and his team of coaches run the session and work on games designed to develop young hockey players whilst maximizing enjoyment.

The sessions are open to all EIHA registered players at any club. Please come along to the session and enjoy the games

Blackburn Junior Hawks Ice Hockey Club today announces the departure of Matt Darlow as Director of Hockey, and the appointment of Scott Barnett to the same role for the remainder of the 2016-17 season.

Matt has made the decision to step down as Director of Hockey and the management committee would like to put on record our thanks for all his hard work during his time with us. His enthusiasm for development and growth has been the driving force behind the club during the past few months and we are sad to see his tenure come to an end.

Blackburn Junior Hawks Ice Hockey Club would like to reassure its members that Director of Hockey, Matt Darlow currently remains in post at the club.

With his departure from the senior team, the Blackburn Hawks, much speculation has surfaced regarding his role with the juniors. We would like to use this statement to reaffirm our support for Matt, and the work he is doing with the juniors. Matt has been a very proactive member of our management committee, working tirelessly to give our young Ice Hockey players all the opportunities to develop within our organisation, and the wider Ice Hockey community. He has already had a positive effect on all of our players, and the way they play the game.

As I am sure everyone can understand, this is a difficult time for Matt, and we have given him time to think over what is best for him. He will continue with his daily duties whilst coming to a decision on how to move forward. As a management team, we all hope that this decision is to continue with the work he has started here with us. We encourage all our members to send Matt messages of support so he knows what a difference he is making to our children, and how he can continue with this in the longer term.

With the departure of Juniors Director of Hockey, Matt Darlow from the senior team yesterday many of our parents have concerns over the initiatives that have been put in place for progression within the club. Specifically, the Hawks Prospect Programme and its future has been the subject of speculation. The Hawks management have informed us that the Hawks Prospect Programme will continue as normal, and the routes for progression within the club is still the focus of much work and attention. Anthony Kinder will now take charge of the Hawks Prospect Programme and expects business as normal. More information will follow in due course…